However, again, like the other night, it's not what Ravi said that's coming back at me, it's what Carolyn Arends said, beforehand.
Got a sec?
OK.
Carolyn told this story that she'd heard as a youngster during a Missionary Sunday at church. This story takes place in a jungle location and the missionaries that were sharing the story described how they had discovered a huge, man-sized snake in their house/hut. They ran out of their house and asked a local man for help.
He told them to wait outside while he went in with a machete. In due time the hunter emerged from their residence with good news and bad news.
The good news was that he had killed the snake. He had severed the head, which he held up for them.
The bad news was that the rest of the snakes body wouldn't be aware that it was dead for at least a couple of hours. So the husband and wife waited outside of their home, listening to the snake thrash around breaking glass, knocking things over, spraying blood and fluids all over their belongings, doing awful desperate dying-snake-things ... until finally it had no life left. The havoc it created was significant, but they just waited it out because they knew how this would end.
And while they were sitting outside waiting, they both simultaneously had 'ah hah' moments.
Seeing they were missionaries 'n all, they were reminded of the bible verse (Gen 3:15) where it is predicted/prophesied that the head of the serpent will be crushed (by the seed of the woman).
The serpent's head (Satan) was crushed when Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Evil was put to death.
We are simply living in the thrashing about period. We know how this ends. Alot of damage is being done, but evil will not win. It has already lost the battle. It just doesn't know it yet.
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OH MAN. Do I ever love that story.
So hard.
And then she (Carolyn) went on to say, "If you gather up all the evil in the world, all of it, from all of history and compare it to goodness, the evil wouldn't even cover the head of a pin. It is minuscule in comparison to love. From the perspective of eternity, evil is barely a blip. We are in the midst of the thrashing, so it appears that it's winning. BUT IT'S NOT."
I loved that too.
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Just thought that I should share that. Maybe you needed perspective regarding evil?
Also wanted to save that story here. So that someday when my great, great granddaughter discovers this blog in some dusty corner of the internet and she reads it, she'll know her great, great granny didn't just write/whine about the weather.
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New topic.
As mentioned, I got my truck back late on Sunday night. Drew had cleaned out the interior and hung a vanilla scented thingy on the rear view mirror that smells delicious. But the 'out of oil' warning light was flashing at me, and the exterior had 6 months worth of dead bugs and dirt on it. So I made an appointment to get it oil/lubed and inspected today.
(Side note: After I dropped my truck off, I needed a ride back to work. This is a service they provide and I've used it often. In the past however, it's always been a young kid who transports me. Today it was a fella who was probably around my age. (Based on eye wrinkles. And greying hair. But again. WHAT DO I KNOW?) And I remember thinking to myself, 'Buddy, how hard are these times for you that you're working at a minimum age job like this?' So we started talking and he seemed a little rough. We talked about the Escape we were in and how it compared to my '08. And from there we talked about my stolen '06 and kids in trouble... and before you know it, he's telling me about his 24 year old son who has a drug addiction. And I told him about The Door, the NA community in New West, and my experiences with it all. He told me about his divorce, his new relationship (and how they both are working full time for $12 bucks an hour...) and the pain/feeling of helplessness regarding his son. As we got to Focus's parking lot, I asked him what his son's name was. He told me. I promised him I'd be praying for him. If praying for kids with addictions is heavy on your heart, please join me in praying. His name isn't Bob. But let's call him Bob for now. God knows his real name.)
Anyway, hours later, I went back to pick up my truck and I was slightly nervous. It was reminiscent of dropping the kids off for finals at high school. I wasn't totally confident that they had studied, so I was never sure if they were going to pass. I was nervous about picking them back up. In the same way, I had bought new tires and spent $1000 on maintenance last December, then handed the keys over to Drew. He has driven it back and forth to Chilliwack everyday for over 6 months. And he's a boy. Who drives hard.
So, when I went to pick it up, I was prepared for the worst. And guess what? It passed. It passed not with a C- but with an A! All I had to pay for was the oil and lube. And they showed me the inspection sheet and there were ticks in all the excellent columns. Such a happy day.
I went out to the lot, rubbed the front end and said, "way to go girlfriend. How 'bout I treat you to a spa treatment? Facial? Mani-pedi? Some undercarriage waxing?"
We headed over to the Shell station, I filled her up with gas (really, there's something lovely about a full tank of gas on a summer evening) and then splurged on the most expensive car wash option available.
She was sprinkled, scrubbed, rubbed, rinsed, sprayed and blown for 10 minutes.
You guys? She looks years younger. So sexy.
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Whoa.
A whole lotta prose on this post. And no pix.
Have I lost most of you?
Hahaha.
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On Friday, at Drew's work, a fellow died.
He had a heart attack and died in a hallway by himself.
By the time they found him, he had passed away. Drew watched while the first aid guys did their best to revive him.
Just. So. Sad.
(So if you're the praying type, maybe you could join me in praying about that whole situation? For the guys who were first responders, for the ones who could only watch, helpless, for the fellow's family ...)
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On a lighter note, have you been reading Vanessa's blog and their adventures with Joey in Bali?
You should. This is why young people have babies. And why old people don't. Because we would be too tired to show infants the world.
On a similar note, have you been reading Rachel's blog and their adventures of camping with two little girls (one of them being only 7 weeks old!)? You totally should. So. Much. Work. So many awesome photos/memories.
This pic. I mean:
Three things I'm thankful for:
1. Opportunities to pray for folks who cross my path.
2. Lunch with Janice today. Truly this woman inspires me to be better. I ALWAYS learn something when I spend time with her.
3. The way the air smells delicious at 11 pm at night. Night walking is the best. I could just stay out there and breathe for hours.
K.
Gnite.
Shalom, friends.
xo
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